VANCOUVER — If there’s one piece of advice that doesn’t apply to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it would be, “Act like you’ve been here before.”
They don’t need to act — they have been here before. But that doesn’t make this mountain any easier to climb.
Taking to the field for their fifth Grey Cup in six years (2020 was cancelled because of COVID-19), the Blue Bombers now have the chance to re-write two consecutive years of heartbreak when they play the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday at BC Place.
Their road to the pinnacle of Canadian football was winding this year — the Blue Bombers started the season winless through their first four games and managed just three wins over their first nine. But like all good teams, Winnipeg managed to find a way, and finished the season as the top-seeded team in the West.
With all the regular-season and playoff success, the one game that matters most is still to come.
But ask any of the Blue Bombers, and they’ll tell you they’re suiting up for this game with the same mentality they had in the previous 19 games this year.
“At the end of the day, it’s still just a game,” wide receiver Kenny Lawler said at Wednesday’s media day. “I don’t try to think that this game is bigger than another. And I really, truly believe that every game is [just]a game.
“We’re the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. We play the same way. Let’s continue to play that way,” Lawler added. “Rely on your technique, rely on your preparation and that right there is the key.”
How can the Blue Bombers erase two years of disappointment and cement their dynasty once and for all? Here are four keys for the team in the 111th Grey Cup:
Make life tough for Nick Arbuckle
It’s not ideal for the Argonauts to be in this position without their starting quarterback and 2023 CFL most outstanding player Chad Kelly, who suffered a gruesome injury in the East final.
Instead, they’ll turn to largely untested Nick Arbuckle, who assumes the starting role for the first time in the Grey Cup.
This places the Argos in an underdog position, sure, but that doesn’t mean the Blue Bombers should approach the quarterback lightly.
“He’s a guy who really likes to push the ball down the field,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said. “He likes to stay in the pocket a little bit longer than other quarterbacks … but he also can get out and scramble and push [to]extend play.”
The key will be to force Arbuckle into a second-and-long position, limiting his ability to effectively get the ball down the field or forcing him to make a less-than-ideal play.
In all but one of his four appearances in the regular season, Arbuckle threw an interception. If the Blue Bombers can pressure him into making a risky throw on second down in order to gain the necessary yardage, it opens the door for a player like Tyrell Ford, who finished the year with seven interceptions, to make him pay.
If Arbuckle is left in the pocket on second-and-long, that also opens the possibility for someone like Jefferson to take him down. The defensive end finished the season with a team-leading six sacks.
Either way, the Blue Bombers will have to limit the Argos’ success on first down to prevent their ground game from taking advantage.
Offence must maintain momentum
The trio of quarterback Zach Collaros, Lawler and running back Brady Oliveira completely took over the West final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, combining for four touchdowns, and 296 yards en route to a dominating win.
Taking down the Roughriders was no easy task, but on the back of a disappointing playoff exit last season and without their starting quarterback, the Argonauts will be more motivated than ever to stifle the Blue Bombers.
On offence, Winnipeg’s best players will have to play like their best players — full stop.
This rings especially true for Oliveira and Collaros, who will be on the receiving end of some of the stingiest defence in the CFL.
As colleague David Morassutti pointed out on Thursday, the Argonauts are the league leaders in sacks (48) and limited the newly-crowned 2024 most outstanding player Oliveira to just 164 rushing yards combined over their two meetings in the regular season.
That being said, Oliveira struggled to gain yards against the Roughriders during the regular season but finished with 119 yards and one touchdown in the West final. Collaros finished with two touchdowns across three regular-season meetings against Saskatchewan, then had four last game.
It’s about getting hot at the right time. The Blue Bombers know that in order for the team to have success, Collaros is going to have to keep playing at a high level. To do that, the team must ensure that he’s got the space he needs.
“That’s going to be a key [point]of emphasis,” Oliveira said. “Make sure … [Collaros] has a clean pocket, he has time to make his reads and to do what he does.”
Adaptability is also key against this Argos defensive line.
“It’s important to take what they give you and try to be as efficient as you can, staying on schedule on first down to make those second more manageable so they can’t pin your ears back and try to hit the quarterback,” Collaros explained.
Find a way to stop Janarion Grant
There’s a reason Janarion Grant took home special teams player of the year at Thursday’s CFL Awards — he is exceptionally good at what he does. The Argos returner established a new career-high with four return touchdowns and finished with 989 punt-return yards.
“He’s a generational talent in this league, I would say, as a returner and a great guy,” Blue Bombers special teams co-ordinator Mike Miller said about his former teammate. “He’s fearless and he’s going to hit a seam when he sees it.”
A player like Grant has the ability to turn games on their head and really shift the momentum, so it will be imperative for the Blue Bombers to limit his time and space.
“We need to do a good job of limiting those lanes, obviously, and making sure we’re doing a good job wrapping him up and making sure he can’t get off tackles,” Miller continued. “Even though he’s a light dude, he does a pretty good job breaking tackles.”
The Blue Bombers have done a fairly decent job of that, limiting Grant to 77 punt-return yards and 88 kickoff-return yards combined in their two meetings against the Argos.
Even so, each game is a clean slate and Miller acknowledged the high level that Grant sees the game.
“I don’t think there’s too much that fazes him when he’s out there,” Miller marvelled. “I would assume that the game moves fairly slowly for him and he’s able to adjust to that, and then see his lane probably before he even picks it.”
It will be a challenge for the Blue Bombers, but one they’ll have to rise to if they want to win.
Push for the whole 60 minutes
This may seem like low-hanging fruit, but consider how Winnipeg’s previous two Grey Cup losses transpired — the Blue Bombers lost in 2023 to the Montreal Alouettes on a final-minute game-winning drive, and lost in 2022 to the Argonauts by just one point as Toronto blocked a late field goal.
Against the Alouettes, the Bombers led in the first quarter and kept pushing until a few mistakes and defensive blunders late in the fourth quarter allowed their opponents to win the game in the final seconds.
Against the Argonauts in 2022, the Blue Bombers didn’t manage any meaningful offence until the second quarter, spending the remainder of the game trading the lead.
Both games were entirely winnable, for either side.
The key now for the Blue Bombers will be to push early and often, and not allow their game to waver at any point.
“You know how the last two Grey Cups turned out,” Oliveira said. “It’s going to take an entire 60 minutes, and we gotta play clean football down to the wire and we’ve got to finish this thing.
“We can’t come out here and play a good half and not come out in the second half and play a decent half. It’s got to be a full four quarters, flying around, making plays and playing to our standards like we’ve been playing the last number of weeks to get us here.”
When playing their best for the full game, the Blue Bombers can beat any team.
“Don’t take your foot off the pedal,” Jefferson added. “Don’t take your foot off the gas and stay ready to go to work until the clock hits zero.”
The Grey Cup takes place Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
